If you're looking for a bright side in this gloomy weather, this is it!

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Updated: 10:44 PM CST Jan 7, 2018

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WEBVTT CONCERNED ABOUT TICKS, SO WE DO GET QUESTIONS QUITE FREQUENTLY. PEOPLE AREALWAYSCONCERNED ABOUT TICKS, SO WE DO GET QUESTIONS QUITE FREQUENTLY. EVEN IN THE DEAD OF WINTER-- TICKS STAY DEEP IN THE WOODS, HIDING --UNTIL MUCHWARMERMONTHS RETURN --BUT WHEN FACEDWITH SUB ZERO TEMPERATURES, LIKE MUCH OFOUR REGION IS EXPERIENCINGNOW -- THERE'S AGOOD CHANCE QUITE A FEW OFTHEM WON'TMAKE IT TOSPRING -- WE'RE CAUTIOUSLYOPTIMISTIC THAT THE SEVERECOLD AND THEDRYNESS ISGOING TO HAVE SOME SORT OFNEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE TICK POPULATION. ELIZA DOCASTERHELPS OVERSEE VERMONT'S STATEWIDE TICKPOPULATIONS...SHE SAYSPEOPLE ARECONCERNED ABOUT TICKS YEAR ROUND, AND FOR GOODREASON... WE SAW ADOUBLING IN THE AMOUNT OF TICKS THAT WE COLLECTED FROM 2016 TO2017 IN OUR SURVEYS.BUT THE COLDCOULD HELPREDUCE THEPOPULATION... TICKS ARE ALSOAFFECTED BY THE RELATIVEHUMIDITY, AND IT'S BEEN SODRY, THAT THEY'RE PRONE TO DESICATION,SO THEY DRY OUT.HELENASTANDUP: TICKSTAKE COVER IN THE WINTERTIMEBY HIDING UNDER LEAVES, THE SNOW ON TOP ACTS AS INSULATIONKEEPING THEMWARM. BUT WEWON'T KNOWFOR A WHILE IFTHEY'LL BE ABLE TO HOLD OUT INTHE CURRENT CONDITIONS. UNTIL WE STARTSEEING TICKSAGAIN...BUT WE'RE HOPINGIT'LL HAVE SOME KIND OF NEGATIVEIMPACT. HOPING FORFEWER TICKBITES WHEN IT WARMS UP. IN BERLIN,HELENABATTIPAGLIA ################

Good News: This Freezing Weather Might Mean Fewer Bugs Next Summer

If you're looking for a bright side in this gloomy weather, this is it!

You're not the only one barely enduring the snow and wintry weather much of the country experienced this week: Several disease-carrying bugs are suffering, too.

There may be fewer ticks come spring and summer, thanks to the "bomb cyclone" and brutal temperatures that hit much of the United States in recent days. The ice and below-freezing temperatures may kill some of them off, but the pesky parasites are tough and scientists won't know just how much damage was done until springtime, according to Popular Science. The news comes after a summer where tick populations grew exponentially and Lyme disease spread across the globe.

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The possibility of a smaller tick population in your area will also depend on just how much winter weather you experience this year. The amount of snow and number of days with freezing temperatures will heavily influence their ability to survive.

Scientists from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Pest Management Office have found that ticks can survive cold weather if there's snow and leaves on the ground, which help to insulate them. It's harder for them to survive an intense winter, though, if there's no litter to protect them against freezing temperatures, according to the Bangor Daily News. "If the ticks were completely exposed, these temperatures of zero or 5 below or 10 below would certainly be sufficient to kill a number of ticks," Griffin Dill, a scientist at the office told the publication.

In Oklahoma, experts are worried one bad winter storm won't be enough to see a significant change. "The cold will impact them, but there still are a lot out there that will survive," Justin Talley, an entomologist at Oklahoma State University told Tulsa World.

And many think the ticks are likely to survive due to mutations and the fact that they've experienced brutal winters before, though Susan Paskewitz, the University of Wisconsin Madison's Entomology Department chair, is optimistic. "I'm going to be hopeful that because we're getting really cold temperatures and not much insulation in southern Wisconsin that we may see some impacts on the tick survival next year," she told Popular Science. "Maybe we'll get a little suppression of the ticks, but we'll see.